BOOK III. legaverit, nihil legatariis prodest, si ante aditam hereditatem per servos hereditarios aut ex partu ancillarum hereditariarum aut ex fetu pecorum tantum accesserit hereditati, ut centum legatorum nomine erogatis habiturus sit heres quartam partem; sed necesse est, ut nihilominus quarta pars legatis detrahatur. Et ex diverso, si ex centum septuaginta quinque legaverit et ante aditam hereditatem in tantum decreverint bona, incendiis forte aut naufragiis aut morte servorum, ut non plus quam septuaginta quinque vel etiam minus relinquatur, solida legata debentur; nec ea res damnosa est heredi, cui liberum est non adire hereditatem quae res efficit, ut necesse sit legatariis, ne destituto testamento nihil consequantur, cum herede in portionem legatorum pacisci.— 1. 73 pr., D. eod.' Cum autem ratio legis Falcidiae ponitur, ante deducitur aes alienum, item funeris impensa et pretia servorum manumissorum, tunc deinde in reliquo ita ratio habetur, ut ex eo quarta pars 1 As regards the ascertainment of the extent of a patrimony, it has been considered that we must look to the time of the death. If any one, accordingly, had one hundred sestertia in his estate, and has entirely exhausted that in legacies, it is of no avail to the legatees if, before entry upon the inheritance, so great an increase to it has accrued through slaves of the inheritance, or by virtue of offspring of slave-women belonging to the inheritance, or from young of cattle, that the heir, although one hundred (sestertia) should have been exhausted in legacies, will notwithstanding receive the fourth part, but the fourth part must none the less be deducted from the legacies. And on the other hand, if of one hundred he has bequeathed seventy-five (sestertia) and the estate before entry has so dwindled, it may be by fires, or shipwrecks, or the death of slaves, that not more than seventy-five, or even less, are left, the legacies must be discharged in full. And this is not disadvantageous to the heir, who is at liberty not to enter upon the inheritance; the result of which is that it is necessary for the legatees, lest they obtain nothing from an abandoned testament, to bargain with the heir for a share of their legacies. apud heredes remaneat, tres vero partes inter Marc. In quartam hereditatis, quam per $183. ACQUISITION AND PROTECTION OF BEQUESTS. In the acquisition of the bequest there are two points of time to distinguish BOOK III. Part III. (1) The legacy vests-that is, the claim to the bequest, and so the right to the acquisition of the right bequeathed in the entry upon the inheritance, has been definitely originated for the beneficiary(dies legati cedit) as a rule at the moment of the testator's death," provided that it was left uncondi- a D. 34, 7, 3tionally; according to the direction of the lex Papia Poppaea, repealed by Justinian, first at the moment of the opening of the testament. Upon the death of the oneratus post diem cedentem,' the bequest is transmitted to his heirs. Ulp. xxiv. 31 Legatorum, quae pure vel in diem certum relicta sunt, dies cedit antiquo quidem iure ex mortis testatoris tempore, per 1 Now when the calculation is made under the 1. Falcidia, debts, funeral expenses and the value of freed slaves are first deducted, and then the residue is reckoned in such a way that the fourth part thereof remains in the hands of the heirs, whilst the other three parts are distributed amongst the legatees, in proportion of course to the share bequeathed to each of them. 2 Now the fourth part of the inheritance by the 1. Falcidia, which the heir must retain, are things reckoned which he acquires by right of inheritance, not those which he obtains by virtue of a legacy, a gift in trust, or by reason of the fulfilment of a condition. BOOK III. " D. 50, 16, 213 pr. legem autem Papiam Poppaeam ex apertis tabulis testamenti: eorum vero quae sub condicione relicta sunt, cum condicio exstiterit.' Id. Si post diem legati cedentem legatarius decesserit, ad heredem suum transfert legatum.— 1. 5 pr., D. quando di. leg. 36, 2.2 Si cum dies legati cedere inciperet, alieni quis iuris est, deberi his legatum, quorum iuri fuit subiectus et ideo, si post diem legati cedentem liber factus est, apud dominum legatum relinquet. Sed si usufructus fuerit legatus, licet post mortem testatoris ante aditam tamen hereditatem sui iuris efficiatur, sibi legatum adquirit.-1. 5, § 7 eod. Ulp.: Dies ususfructus, item usus non prius cedet, quam hereditas adeatur.-D. 7, 3, 1. un. § 2. (2) The bequest becomes due (dies legati venit) —that is, the right bequeathed itself is acquired, and the bequest can be claimed by the beneficiary -as soon as entry has been made upon the inheritance, unless the testator have still further postponed the point of time for the fulfilment." 1 Legacies left unconditionally, or until a certain day, by the old Law vested at the testator's death, but by the l. Papia Poppaea at the opening of the tablets of the testament. Those, however, which have been left conditionally vest when the condition is fulfilled. 2 If a legatee have died after the vesting of the legacy, he transfers the legacy to his heir. 3 If at the time from which a legacy begins to vest a man is subject to the authority of another, the legacy is due to those to whose authority he has been subject; if therefore the legacy was unconditional, and (the party interested) has become free after the vesting of the legacy, he will leave the legacy in the hands of his master. But if a usufruct have been bequeathed, he acquires the legacy for himself, although it is after the testator's death that he becomes independent, but before entry on the inheritance. 4 The usufruct as well as the use will not vest before the inheritance is taken up. Mod. Omnia, quae testamentis sine die vel condicione adscribuntur, ex die aditae hereditatis praestantur.-1. 32 pr., de leg. II. (31).1 : Paul. Si dies apposita legato non est, praesens debetur aut confestim ad eum pertinet cui datum est; adiecta, quamvis longa sit, si certa est, veluti Kalendis Ianuariis centesimis, dies quidem legati statim cedit, sed ante diem peti non potest.1. 21 pr., D. quando di. leg." Ulp. Heredis aditio moram legati quidem petitioni facit, cessioni diei non facit.-Interdum aditio hereditatis legatis moram facit, ut puta si forte servo manumisso . . . aliquid legatum sit: nam servo legati relicti ante aditam hereditatem dies non cedit.—1. 7 pr., § 6 eod.3 The effect of acquisition takes shape differently according to the object and the form of the legacy. BOOK III. l'art III. (1) The legatum per vindicationem makes the legatee the immediate owner of the thing bequeathed, and forthwith confers upon him the rei vindicatio. Gai. ii. 194. The acquisition takes place without the knowledge and consent of the beneficiary, but subsequent repudiation again annuls the acquisition retrospectively. Gai. ii. § 195: In eo solo dissentiunt prudentes, quod Sabinus quidem et Cassius ceterique nostri praeceptores quod ita legatum sit, statim post. 1 Everything that is added in testaments without limit of time or condition is performed from the date of entry upon the inheritance. 2 If no date have been attached to a legacy, it is an immediate debt, or belongs at once to the person to whom it has been given; if a date have been added, however remote, if it be certain, for example, Jan. I after one hundred years, the legacy in fact vests at once, but it cannot be claimed before the day appointed. 3 The entry of the heir causes a delay in the claim of a legacy, but does not to its vesting.-Sometimes entry upon the inheritance subjects legacies to delay, for example, if anything has been bequeathed to a freed slave; for before entry upon the inheritance there is no vesting of a legacy left to a slave. BOOK III. aditam hereditatem putant fieri legatarii, etiamsi ignoret sibi legatum esse, et posteaquam scierit et repulerit legatum, proinde esse atque si legatum non esset; Nerva vero et Proculus ceterique illius scholae auctores non aliter putant rem legatarii fieri, quam si voluerit eam ad se pertinere: sed hodie ex D. Pii Antonini constitutione hoc magis iure uti videmur, quod Proculo placuit (?).§ 200 Illud quaeritur quod sub condicione per vindicationem legatum est, pendente condicione cuius esset nostri praeceptores heredis esse putant exemplo statuliberi, . . . quem constat interea heredis servum esse; sed diversae scholae auctores putant nullius interim eam rem esse: quod multo magis dicunt de eo, quod sine condicione legatum est, antequam legatarius admittat legatum.' Iul. Cum servus legatur, et ipsius servi status et omnium, quae personam eius attingunt, in suspenso est; nam si legatarius repulerit a se legatum, numquam eius fuisse videbitur, si non 1 On the following point alone the jurists disagree, for Sabin. and Cass. and the rest of our teachers think that what has been bequeathed in this way becomes the property of the legatce immediately after the inheritance has been entered upon, even if he be ignorant that the bequest has been made to him; and that after he has become aware of it and refused it, it is as though nothing had been bequeathed; whilst Nerva and Proculus and the other authorities of that school think that the thing does not become the legatee's, unless he wish that it should belong to him. But at the present day, according to a constitution of the late Emp. Pius Antoninus, we seem rather to follow the rule of Proculus.-The question arises, whose is a legacy left per vindicationem under a condition, whilst the condition is unfulfilled? Our teachers think that it belongs to the heir, by the analogy of the statuliber . . . who, it is allowed, is the slave of the heir for the meantime; but the authorities of the opposite school are of opinion that the thing belongs to no one meanwhile; and they assert this much more of a thing bequeathed without condition, before the legatee accepts the legacy. ... |